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“I can relate to that hurricane” is not a thought anyone would want to think about.

But several times this year, the National Hurricane Center, a government agency that offers key updates and forecasts, has invited personal comparisons that don’t brag about storms in the way they write. This, at the very least, is how many Twitter users perceive them when the agency tweets about them.

“Kate Is Still A Badly Organized Depression“Someone read it and stormed off thousands of retweets containing variations of “me too” responses from Kates and non-Kates. strengthened and weakened rapidly a few weeks ago.

“Struggling Kate Isn’t Expected To Last Longer,‘ said another.

It has left some people wondering: Is the National Hurricane Center, a very serious organization whose communications can directly save lives, whipping it up for its Twitter audience? Is he doing this on purpose?

This is certainly not the case, said Dr. Several times a day, Michael Brennan is tasked with writing updates for the public on where a storm is and where it’s headed next.

Okay, the puns were deliberate, he admitted.

But, the agency’s forecasters said, it only takes on a cheerful tone when a storm poses no threat to land or life — relatively minor storms Peter and Rose were swirling across the Atlantic, but the puny headlines were clear when it was created. they would not be destructive.

Others noted on Twitter—including struggling Kate,”Big Larry” and “Little Sam” – insisted that it was not written with virality in mind.

Dr. “We’re not intentionally trying to joke,” Brennan said. “But sometimes people pick them up and run with them.”

Updates, including news headlines, are written by individual forecasters assigned to storms and read by another forecaster before they are released, he said.

As in a traditional newsroom, forecasters are always trying to change the language they use. Dr. Brennan said there are many ways to say that a storm is weakening.

Forecasters said they aimed to use everyday language, avoiding technical meteorological jargon that most people wouldn’t understand, as they communicated with the general public, hoping to reach as many people as possible.

An occasional cheerful headline in a non-threatening storm could help more people see their Twitter account and updates @NHC_Atlantik, @NWS “This could be important if it means they’ll follow up when a more serious storm rises,” he said.

However, Dr. Brennan added that they would never be slack in a life-threatening situation, even if it helps to get attention.

“We write hundreds of headlines and recommendations,” he said, “and I think a lot of them are trying to be pretty outspoken about what we saw or predicted.”

So on Friday, Hurricane Center played right with the last storm:Sam now a hurricane over the mid-tropical Atlantic. It is expected to continue to strengthen rapidly and become a major hurricane tonight or early Saturday.”